Georgia Football: Top 5 players whose careers were spoiled by injuries

5. Trinton Sturdivant

I bet you didn’t expect to see an offensive lineman on this list. But there’s no doubting how good Sturdivant could have been and there’s no doubting how much this injury affected Georgia’s offense in 2008 and 2009.

In 2007, Sturdivant was part of a great but young offensive line that featured three freshmen and two seniors. That group, despite the lack of experience besides Fernando Velasco and Chester Adams, led the way for one of Georgia football’s best offenses.

Knowshon Moreno ran for over 1,300 yards, Thomas Brown added over 700. Matthew Stafford even passed for over 2,500 yards. Even as true freshman, Sturdivant was a big part of that a freshman All-American

But that put high expectations on the 2008 offensive line. They lost Velasco and Adams, but Sturdivant, Clint Boling and Chris Davis were returning to lead the offensive line. But Sturdivant injured his left knee before the first game of the season and missed all of 2008.

Stafford eclipsed 3,000 yards, but Moreno’s stats didn’t change much even though he was the lone star tailback. With no one to adequately relieve Moreno either, Georgia’s offensive production fell. Had Sturdivant played that year, things could have been different.

Sturdivant once again had a season ending knee injury in 2009 and he only started seven games in 2010 before injuring his knee again in the spring of 2011. And that was the end of Sturdivant’s career at Georgia.